Operation Alnel Mistletoe Madnes!
by silver thorns
Summary: Exactly as it says on the tin - a silly little bit of Christmas fluff. Alnel


whoo hoo! school's finished! feel the celebrations! feel the fires of loving! feel it! FEEL IT! yes...ahem...anywho, this is it! in celebration of one of the bestest holidays ever, here it is! Operation Alnel Mistletoe Madness! or...OAMM! whoo hooo! again! oh, waht does AU mean? i've got OC, and OoC, but waht about AU? anybody? ah well, reading time!

btw, i apologise for the shortness and overall badness. please forgive! it _is_ christmas!

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"It's called Christmas."

"(Bemused) Okay…"

"It's the time of the year when we give friends, family members, random people and the like gifts, as a way of showing our appreciation of them living, or something like that. Then they give you presents, so it's a mutual thing. Oh, then there's the mistletoe!"

"(Despairing sigh) What's mistletoe?"

"It's this plant, and when you're under it with someone, you have to kiss then."

"(Curiously) Why?"

"Dunno. Tradition. But yeah, it's the one time of year I can smooch a girl and get away with it. Brilliant, ain't it."

"If you say so…"

"(Slyly) Think about it. You could lure _anyone_ under it, and you'd have the perfect excuse to kiss them. Even a certain Elicoorian"

"(Choking) Wh-what!"

"Hah! Thought so. Well, Nel, it's your one chance. Don't waste it."

Cliff sauntered off, chuckling softly to himself as Nel choked and spluttered, her pretty face as red as her hair. It was working perfectly, as always. These two were just so easy to manipulate! Okay, most of the time they were under the influence of a potion, but this week it would be different.

For a while now, the Team had been trying to get Albel and Nel together, the most effective method being the good ol' Gossam-brewed potion. Usually afterwards they pretended it never happened, claiming it was the potion's fault they were in bed together or kissing each other madly behind the random waterfall, but not this time. Oh no, this time, they would not only have their memories and control of various body organs, but also have no choice but to admit that yes, they were attracted to each other in a certain way, and yes, they would finally kiss and make out. Because even the dimmest of the Team (i.e. Sophia, Adray being not stupid, or very stupid, but the stupidest thing that ever crawled out of the stupidest pit on the stupidest planet where all stupidity was originally spawned) knew that Albel and Nel _liked _each other. Not like, but _like_.

Cliff opened a seemingly random door and greeted Mirage.

"Well?"

Cliff grinned. "Stage One of Operation Alnel Mistletoe Madness complete. You?"

"Done and dusted. Albel was as red as tomatoes by the time I was done."

"That makes Stage Two. All we need to do is…"

The room filled with whispers, plotting, intrigue and giggles as two very flustered Elicoorians fled to their rooms, terrified at the thought of another Operation Alnel. It was becoming far too hard to deny it, especially after the last one.

It wasn't anything special, just an overripe lust potion, a hot day in the ruins of some forgotten city, two very annoyed people who were scouting at the time, and a couple of alcoholic beverages. But when Fayt walked in on them while they were…ahem…yes, well there was just no hope of denying it if it happened again. None. Because no one could fake that, even under the influence of a potion. Their only hope was for Cliff and Mirage to keep their noses out of Albel and Nel's life. So it wouldn't happen, but Elicoorians can dream, right?

---------------------------

Albel was the first to wake up. Very carefully, he took out new clothes, disposing of the possibly contaminated ones, tested the door for 'powdered love', opened it, checked both ways, and raced down the hall towards the town.

It had only been a week since Mirage had told him about the whole mistletoe business, and as far as he knew, the plot was still in motion. Whatever they were planning, Albel wouldn't get caught, oh no.

Taking a last cautious glance at the busy, snow-dusted streets of Aquaria, he slipped into the armourer's shop to look for, well, armour.

At that exact moment, on the other side of town, Nel walked into an herbalist shop on the other side of the city. She too had disposed of the possibly contaminated clothes, tested the door for 'powdered love', made her own breakfast from supplies she had brought from Peterny that night, and forced Roger and Peppita to eat some first, to check for any signs of 'Aphrodite's kisses', an extremely potent mixture that had led to the incident in the ruins.

Having bought what they were buying, the two exited, completely oblivious to the small wagon being drawn by a lum, and the two blonde Klausians leading it.

----------------------------

"Nel! The queen needs to see you in the conference room!"

"Albel! Get out of the bath! Nel's dancing naked on the table in the conference room!"

Two pairs of eyes widened. Two people rushed towards the conference room at breakneck speeds. Two doors opened. Two gasps escaped two very surprised Elicoorians. Two pairs of eyes narrowed suspiciously. The two doors slammed shut, as two Klausians laughed evilly.

"Hah! Now we have you! And look up! Mwah ha ha ha ha. Mwah ha ha ha ha! MWAH ha ha ha ha! MWAH HA HA HA HA!"

The warrior and the runologist slowly raised their gazes heavenwards.

"Oh no…"

"Oh (insert swearword of choice)"

Mistletoe. Everywhere they looked, covering every inch of the ceiling, that innocent little plant hung down. Nel could have sworn that they were evil-laughing at her. She was trapped.

Yet there was one thing that stood out from the rest. It wasn't Albel's murderous glare. It wasn't the sniggers of her good for nothing 'friends'. It wasn't even her resigned shrug as she moved towards the hostile man. It wasn't the fact that she couldn't blame this one on being drunk beyond all reason. Nor even his arms closing round her as they finally gave in to her feelings.

Albel wasn't wearing a shirt.

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That night, as the snow fell, a great fire was lit in the main hall and a huge table was brought in. There was food, laughter and general merry-making as the Team, the King of Airyglyph, Elena, the Queen of Aquaria, and Lasselle celebrated the tradition known to most as Christmas.

After the feast, presents were exchanged. They were mostly normal, save a few. Fayt got two pairs of socks, one saying 'FaytxSophia' with hearts, the other 'FaytxMaria' with fluffy kittens. Sophia got a cat teddy bear, and an anonymous death threat. Maria got new gun accessories and an anonymous warning. Other than that, the presents were what you'd expect.

Soon, everyone had given someone else a present, save two. Yep, you guessed them; Albel and Nel. The latter was blushing furiously whilst the former looked bored. Quickly they gave each other the gifts, then fled to opposite sides of the hall.

It wasn't until later that the two opened them in the safety of their rooms.

Nel opened the little box he had given her, almost afraid of what it would be. But all she found was a small piece of mistletoe. She smiled slightly, then slipped out of her room, heading towards the courtyard, careful not to make any noise. In fact, she was so intent on not making noise that once there, she walked head first into someone. Falling on the snow rather ungracefully on her rump, she glared up at the person, her eyes softening slightly when she realized who it was.

"Albel!"

Reaching down, he pulled her to her feet with his human hand. "'Meet me in the courtyard' is all you said." His crimson gaze swept over her body, and she shivered slightly. It wasn't from the cold. "Well, I've done that, Zelpher. Mind telling me why I'm freezing off all extremities for you?"

"I…" Nel was speechless. It's always hard to talk when you're distracted, and Albel was doing just that. Not on purpose, but the way the moon highlighted his body, the skin glowing silver, casting dramatic shadows, hair lightly dusted with snowflakes, ruby eyes flashing…oh yes, Albel could be _very_ distracting when he wanted to. And even more so when he didn't.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to say Merry Christmas."

"Which you could have said in the hall."

"Yes, well…" Oh damn it, he was smirking. He could see she was flustered, and he enjoyed it! Glaring at him, she crossed her arms and walked off to lean against the rail, looking down at the gardens below.

"Ignoring me now, are we?" She heard him chuckle, and felt him move closer to her. He was close now, so close she could feel his body heat. "Awfully childish of you." His claw circling her waist, he used his free hand to pull her hair back. Brushing his lips against her ear, he murmured, "I thought you wanted to talk?"

Nel shivered slightly and leant back, closing her eyes. The snow continued to fall, but she didn't notice it. This was _nice_. Just as she had begun to relax, he suddenly pulled back, causing her to stumble.

"What are you –?"

Brushing off the snow, Albel pulled her inside. They kissed for a while, then just held each other. Yawning sleepily, she snuggled up closer to him, resting her head against his chest. His embrace tightened.

"Nel," he whispered. He didn't speak too loud, fearing it would break the strange calm that had settled over them.

"Mmm?"

"Merry Christmas."

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horribly cliche, but there we go. review, and who knows, it might improve. even if you don't like it, review anyway, and tell me why! please! just for me, your beloved silver thorns? oh go on, you know you must!

btw, i am now allowing you to not only review, but adding it to favourites, adding it to alerts, and/or adding it to C2s. so go on, press that pretty button down there and you might get something back, like a review reply! so go go go!


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